Euroislam

European Islam or Modern Islam is a hypothesized new branch of Islam, (reformed Islam) in Southeastern Europe, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania.

In recent years, research on Muslim communities in Europe has shifted from labor and social policy concerns to issues of 'religion' and 'culture'. In particular, there has been a growing interest in the possible emergence of a specifically 'European Islam'. The collective hypothesis that seems to be forming is - according to sociologist that currently is adapting and in coming years Islam will adapt to 'new' European structures in a way that will enable Muslims to consider themselves full European citizens.

The term euro Islam was introduced at a conference in Birmingham in the UK in 1988. Leader and initiator of the conference was Carl E. Olivestam, senior lecturer at Umea University, also Director at the Board of Universities and Colleges in Sweden. Islam in England, Germany and France, examples of European countries with large Islamic populations, could be named Euroislam. The term was first published in the Swedish handbook: Kyrkor och alternativa rörelser. (Churches and alternative Movements). There are two European Muslims who dominate the debate on Euro-Islam: Bassam Tibi, and Tariq Ramadan, who adopted the term in 1999 but are using it in a different meaning.

Tariq Ramadan is considered to be one of the coiners of the term "European Islam". Ramadan calls for creating a new European-Muslim identity in his book "To Be a European Muslim" (1999). He demands participation of Muslims in social and cultural life in conformation with European culture and Muslim ethics and says Muslims should disassociate themselves from Saudi Arabia and from terrorism. He also thinks that European Muslims "need to separate Islamic principles from their cultures of origin and anchor them in the cultural reality of Western Europe." However, Ramadan says that "Europeans also must start considering Islam as a European religion."

German-SyrianBassam Tibi coined in 1992 the term "Euro-Islam" to describe a type of Islam that embraces Western political values, such as pluralism, tolerance, and the separation of church and state. He argued that Muslims in Europe must create a specific form of Islam that can coexist with European values. The term reflects a concept for the integration of Muslims as European citizens, often assuming a liberal and progressive interpretation based on the idea of Europeanizing Islam. Bassam Tibi dissociates himself from the Islamists, who reject Euro-Islam. He estimates that they amount to 3%-5% of the Muslims currently living in Europe. He says they are nevertheless a dangerous minority since they want to "hijack" the Muslim community and other values of civil society. Tibi speaks of the need of Muslims to become "European citizens of the heart". Tibi insists that Euro-Islam means secularity, the acceptance of separation between religion and state, as well as that Muslims embrace European values. As contrast he sees the ghettoization of the Muslims with potential for conflict. Therefore, Euro-Islam is for Tibi a way out from the issue of the ethnicization of Muslim migration in Europe and a democratic alternative to the so-called "ethnicity of fear". But after 25 years of leadership towards promoting an Euro-Islam, Bassam Tibi announced in the magazine Cicero (June issue) "I capitulate", stating that the "headscarf Islam" has triumphed over the "Euro-Islam".

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